Multiple-cylinder engine.



No. 675,494. Patented Juno 4, I901.

CHAN.

E. E. PETTEE &. J. J. MGCUT MULTIPLE GYLIRDER ENGINE.

Lpplicntion fih Sept. 18, 1900.) I (No Modal.) 3 Sheets-Shoat l.

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gfim p y M No. 675,494. Patented June 4, I90l. E. E. PETTEE & J. J. MGCUTCHAN.

'MULTEPLE CYLINDER ENGINE.

(Apph t on filed 5 pt 18 1900 (No Model.) 3 Sheah-Shoet 2.

Ewe/db? 6-5, /Qzza .mmm Zr No. 675,494. Patented June 4, I901. E. E. PETTEE & J. J. McCUTCHAN.

MULTIPLE CYLINDER ENGINE.

(Application filed Sept. 18, 1900.) (I0 Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

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UMTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD E. PETTEE AND JOHN J. MCCUTOIIAN, OF NEWV YORK, N. Y.

MULTIPLE-CYLINDER ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming" part Of Letters Patent No. 675,494, dated June 4, 1901. Application filed September 18, 1900. Serial No. 30,426. (No model.)

To (tZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we,EDwARD E. PETTEE and JOHN J. MoCUroHAN, citizens of the United States, residing at New York, county of New York, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Multiple-Oylinder Engines; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to engines where a plurality of cylinders are positioned radially around a central shaft, and more especially to that type of such engines which have the inner ends of the cylinders opening into a central easing into which the cylinders exhaust and where the lubrication of the pistons and the shaft and valve-gear bearings is effected by admitting oil along with the steam, the oil passing with the exhaust-steam into the interior of the casing and being thence conducted into a chamber, where it is separated from the steam and collected for reuse. In the patent granted to Oscar Vezin March 22, 1898, No. 600,958, an engine of this type is illustrated and described; and the object of the present invention is to improve and simplify the construction of the Vezin engine principally by inclosing the oil collecting and separating chamber within the cover of the casing, by providing a supplemental bearing for the end of the shaft on the casing-cover and connecting this bearing by suitable oil ducts and passages with the separating and collecting chamber, by making the cylinders and pistons hollow and open at their inner ends, so as to communicate freely with the interior of the engine-casing, whereby the exhaust-steam in the casing jackets the pistons interiorly, and by reducing the number of parts, eliminating all screw-adj ustments, and making the crankpin and the cam which operate the valve-gear in one piece with the shaft.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, wherein- Figure 1 is a side elevation; Fig. 2, an outer end view with the cover removed; Fig. 3, a vertical elevation of the opposite end, partly in section; Fig. 4, a vertical cross-section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5, an elevation of the inner side of the cover; Fig. 0, a section of the cover on the line 6 6, Fig. 5; and Fig. 7, a plan View of the cover.

Referring to the views, a denotes the shaft of the engine, and b 1) indicate the cylinders, positioned radially around the shaft. These cylinders are single-acting and open at their inner ends into a chamber formed by a central casing 0. One side of the casing is closed by the head d, and the main bearing for the engine-shaft is in this head, suitable bushings and glands e 6 being provided for this purpose. Around the outer edge of the easing, on the opposite side, there is a flange or circular plate f, and a cover g is bolted or otherwise fastened to the outer edges of this plate. As shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, this cover is concave, so as to form between its inner wall and the circular plate f a chamber 72, with which the casing-chamber communicates on the opposite side from the head cl, this end of the casing-chamber being entirely open, so as to communicate freely with the chamber formed by the cover g.

The cylinders 19 are closed by heads at their outer ends and, as before stated, open at their ends into the interior of the casing-chamber. The casing has formed around it an annular passage 5, communicating with the outer end of each of the cylinders through ports 11' i and the pipe j furnishes a supply of steam into this passage.

The ports i 2' are formed in the plate fand are controlled by valves 70 in a manner well understood. These valves are held against the face of the plate by keepers or covers 70 and are operated at the proper times by an eccentric cam 6 formed on the shaft a near its outer end. Opposite valves are connected together by spiders s s, which inolose cambrasses s, encircling the cam 6 The pistons 19 have heads only at their outer ends and are made hollow, as shown in Fig. 3, so that their hollow interiors communicate freely with the interior of the casing-chamber. The pistons of oppositely-disposed cylinders are connected together by Scotch yokes t, inclosing brasses of ordinary construction which encircle the crank-pin t of the engine-shaft. The halves of the yokes are secured together by bolts b and spaced apart by tubes 12*, through which the bolts pass. The pistons are connected to their yokes by arms a", which have a generally concavo-convex form in cross-section, so that they conform on their outer surfaces to the general curve of the cylinder-walls and on their inner sides they conform to the curvature of the inner walls of the hollow pistons.

On the inner side of the cover g there is provided a supplemental bearing q for the end of the engine-shaft a, and above this bearing the cover is provided on its inner face with a chamber a, communicating with the interior of the chamber formed 'by the cover by side ports a and opening into the exhaust-pipe 0 through a central passage M The ports 1' communicate with the chamber it, formed by the cover 9, which, as before stated, communicates freely with the chamber of casing c. The cylinders being of the single-acting type exhaust throughthese ports into the chamber h and the exhauststeam passes from this chamber into the outlet 0.

In this type of engines it is customary to lubricate the pistons and the crank-pin and cam for operating the valves by admitting a small quantity of oil into the cylinders through the supply-pipe j, with which a lubricator of any preferred construction may be connected at any suitable point. This oil is taken up by the steam and carried through the cylinders into the casing-chamber and the chamber h in the cover. Unless some means were provided for recovering it from the exhauststeam it would pass out the pipe 0 and be lost, and the amount of oil required to keep the parts lubricated would therefore be greatly increased; but the present invention contemplates the separation of this oil from the exhaust-steam and conducting it back to the bearings of the valve operating the cam, the shaft, and its crank-pin in the following manner:

As before stated, the chamber to communicates with the outlet-pipe 0 for the exhauststeam and with the interior of the cover and casing chambers. It will therefore be understood that the passage of the exhaust is through the ports u 'u, down into the lower end of the chamber a and up through the passage 10 and that in its circuitous passage through this chamber the oil held in me chanical suspension therein is separated out and collected in the bottom of the chamber. For the purpose of assisting this separation of the oil particles from the steam We place in the bottom of the chamber a quantity of battle material 1), which may be in the form of small coiled springs, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, or in any other form affording a multiplicity of interstices through which the steam must pass and the walls of which afford an extended contact-surface for the adherence of the oil thereto. As shown in Fig. 5, this oil separating and collecting chamberu is formed on the inner side of the cover 9 and extends from the upper edge thereof down to the bearing (1 for the end of the crank-shaft a, the outer wall of the bearing forming the bottom of the chamber. For the purpose of distributing the oil collected in this chamber to the several bearings requiring lubrication we provide ducts 5 leading directly from the bot tom of the collecting and separating chamber u to the interior of the bearing q, and for the purpose of conducting the oil from this bearing and distributing it to the other points requiring lubrication we form a duct it, running lengthwise through the shaft a as shown in Fig. 4. The outer end of this duct opens into the interior of the cup-shaped bearing q, and it extends diagonally through the valveoperating cam 6 into the crank-pin t of the shaft, where it has branches leading to the bearings of the Scotch yokes i.

As before stated, the main bearing for the engine-shaft is in the head 01, which closes one side of the casing-chamber. The bearing g on the inside of the cover 9 provides a supplemental bearing for the shaft at its extreme end outside the eccentric wheel which operates the valves. The cover is made removable, and access is thereby afforded to the in ner end of the shaft and to all the interior Working parts of the engine.

The crank-pin i and the eccentric cam c are all cast in one piece with the shaft on and its end, and the shaft is also provided with the counterbalances m, which are likewise cast integrally with it.

The construction being as above described, the operation of the engine will be readily understood. The lubricating-oil, as before explained, is broken up and held in mechanical suspension, in ,fine particles, in the steam, which on being exhausted from the cylinders fills the chambers in the cover g and the casing 0. As the exhauststeam passes through the chamber a the oil is separated out by the baffle material and collects in the bottom of the chamber, whence it passes into the bearing q and thence-by the ducts already described to the bearings of the crank-pin. The revolution of the crank of course throws the oil outwardly, and the exposed working parts are thereby lubricated, and it is to be particularly noted that the pistons will thereby receive a double lubrication, the primary lubrication being obtained from the oil entering the cylinders along with the live steam. After the oil has lubricated the crank-pin of the engine-shaft it flies outwardly, as above described, and is again taken up by the exhauststeam and passed into the collecting and separating chamber, whence it gravitates again to the bearings. Thus the oil is used repeatedly and the amount necessary for running the engine is greatly reduced.

If desired, a branch duct may lead from the duct to in the engine-shaft to the bearings of the spiders s of the valves. Ordinarily, however, these parts will receive sufiicient lubrication from the oily atmosphere of the chamber h and the splashing of the water of condensation therein.

The inclosure of the oil separating and collecting chamber Within the cover of the casing greatly improves the engine in construction and appearance, inasmuch as the height of the structure is thereby considerably reduced and external projections are done away with. The removability of the cover g permits ready access to the collecting and separating chamber for the purpose of cleaning and replacing the baffle material.

It is characteristic of the engine that all the working parts are exposed to the action of the oil that is carried by the steam which is exhausted into and fills the interior chambers of the casing and the cover. Thus in addition to the lubrication of the crank-pin and the end bearing these parts are exposed to a supplemental lubrication. It is also to be noted that there are no parts requiring adjustment, and therefore no necessity for the service of a skilled mechanic either in setting the engine up or in running it.

Having thus described our invention, What We claim is 1. In a multiple-cylinder engine, the combination of the cylinders, their pistons, the admission and exhaust valves, the cover in= closing the valves, and the chamber for separating the oil from the exhaust-steam and collecting it for reuse, said chamber being formed on the inside of and inclosed by the cover.

2. In a multiple-cylinder engine, the combination of the cylinders, their valves, the casing having an open center, the central shaft extending through the casing, the head closing the casing at one side and having the main bearing for the shaft, and the cover closing the casing on the opposite side and inclosing the valves, said cover having a supplemental bearing for the end of the shaft.

3. In a multiple-cylinder engine, the combination of the cylinders, their valves, the casing, the central shaft extending through the casing, the head closing the casing at one side and having the main bearing forthe shaft, a chamber communicating With the interior of the casing for collecting and separating the lubricating-oil from the exhaust steam, a cover closing the opposite end of the casing and inclosing the chamber, and a supplemental bearing for the end of the shaft carried by the cover, said bearing communicating with the oil-separating chamber.

4. In a multiple-cylinder engine, the combination of the casing through which the engine-shaft extends, the cylinders, the valves through Which the cylinders exhaust into the casing, a removable cover closing one side of the casing, and an oil collecting and separating chamber formed on the inner side of and inclosed by the cover.

5. The combination of the casing c, the cover 9, having the bearing (1 for the end of the shaft, the oil collecting and separating chamber a, communicating with the exhaust and having openings for the passage of the oil to the crank-pin.

6. The combination of the casing c, the cover 9 having the bearing g for the end of the shaft, the oil collecting and separating chamber a formed on the inner side of the cover and open to the interior of the casing, openings for the passage of the oil from the chamber to the crank-pin, and the battle material in the chamber for breaking up the escaping steam and collecting and separating therefrom the oil of lubrication.

7. In a multiple-cylinder engine, the norm bination of an open central casing comprising radially-projecting cylinders, an inlet, and supply and exhaust passages, a crank-shaft centrally disposed in said casing, pistons and valves operatively connected with said shaft, a head closing the central opening of the casing at one side and forming the main bearing for the shaft, and an enlar ed hollow cover secured to the casing, inclosing the valve mechanism and constituting with said open centered casing an enlarged exhaust chamber, said cover having a supplemental bearing for the end of the shaft.

In testimony whereof We affix our signa tures in presence of two Witnesses.

' EDYVARD E. PETTEE.

JOHN J. MOCUTCIIAN. Witnesses:

C. B. C. FOWLER. R. W. FLIGHT. 

